Motor-truck with unloading means.



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2 SHEETS 1 "/44- r/chz- 77 I G. W. JACKSON.

MOTOR TRUCK WITH UNLOADING MEANS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 23,1913.

Patented Dec. 1

G. W. JAGK$0N.

MOTOR TRUCK WITH UNLOADING MEANS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 28, 1913. 1,119,353. Patented Dec.1,1914.

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1 1 INN-1111 A 1 g 1 1 OFFICE.

GEORGE W. JACKSON, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

MOTOR-TRUCK WITH UNLOADING MEANS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented ]Dec. 1, 1914.

Application filed August 28, 1913. Serial No. 786,240.

' To all whom it may concern:

. and the invention is more Be it known that I, Gnonen W. JAcnsoN, acitizen of the United States, and a resident of Chicago, in the countyof Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Motor-Trucks with Unloading Means; and I do herebydeclare that the following is a full, clear, and exact descriptionthereof, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, and to thecharacters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisspecification This invention relates to improvements in motor driventrucks for transporting material in bulk and refers more specifically toa type of truck wherein the load is discharged from the body by forcingthe load rearwardly to and through the rear end of the body instead oftilting the body to dump the load, as has been a common practice. Atruck of this general character is shown in prior application for U. S.Letters Patent. Serial No. 7 51,241 filed on the 28th day of February,1913.

Among the objects of the invention is to provide means for returning theslidable piston or analo ous part, such as is shown in said application,after the latter has been thrust rearwardly to force the load out of therear end of the body.

A further object of the invention 1s to provide means for affording areliable guid- 1ng connection between the movable telescopic andexpansible cylinder and piston elements and the body so as to hold theparts in place.

The invention consists in the features of construction, the combinationof elements and arrangement of the parts hereinafter set forth, oneexemplification of which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, vparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings :Figure 1 is a side elevation of a truck embodying myinvention, with parts broken away, showing in dotted lines the unloadingdevices in their extended positions. Fig. 2 is a plan view of theforward part of the truck with certain parts of the unloading mechanismshown in section. Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line 3-3 of Fig.2. Fig; 4 is a fragmentary side elevation of a truck, with parts brokenaway. showing a modification of the mechanism for returning the slidableend wall or piston. Fig. 5 is a section on the I front and rear wheelsline 5-5 of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a section on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

The supportin frame or chassis of the truck includes si e bars 10supported on the 11 and 12, respectively. The truck is driven by anysuitable self contained power plant as, for instance, an internalcombustion engine 15 which is connected by .transmission mechanism 16and chain and sprocket mechanism to the axle of the rear driving wheels.

The load carrying body 17 of the truck is preferably located principallyabove the rear driving wheels, and is also preferably made with the sideand bottom walls thereof curved or of semi-cylindrical contour, so as tothereby avoid sharp angles and corners therein.

The rear end gate 20 may be manually movable orv removable, or it may behinged at its upper edge to swing rearwardly at its lower edge. 21designates the front wall of the body, and in rear of which is mounted amovable wall or piston element 22 which constitutes, in effect the frontwall of the bodv, and which is peripherally shaped to conform to thetrough-like shape of the body. The said movable wall or piston isadapted to slide or reciprocate within the trough-like body and isguided and held against rotary or tilting movement by means of channelbars 23 arranged longitudinally of the body at the inner side thereof,the end wall being notched to engage over said guide bars.

The end wall or piston is forced rearwardly to force the load out of thebody through the medium of one or a plurality of sets of telescopic orexpansible cylinder and piston elements 24, 25, 26, 27 the outer one ofwhichfconstituting a fixed cylinder, is fixedly su ported between theforward fixed wall 21 o. the truck bodv and an upstanding plate orabutment 27 rigidly mounted and suitably braced on the truck frame. Asshown, two sets of expansible cylinder and piston elements are employedwith their longitudinal axes arranged at the sides of the center of themovable end wall or piston so as to thereby force the wall or pistonrearwardly without tendency to efl'ect a binding strain of the wallagainst the side walls of the body. The innermost piston element 27 ofeach set is fixed at its rear end to the movable wall or piston 22, asshown in Figs. 1 and 2, the wall 21 being perforated for the passages ofthe cylinder and piston elements 25, 26 and 27. The said pistons areextended in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the truckbody, either by hydraulic or pneumatic energy, which may be suppliedthereto through the pipes 28 suitably connected thereto and to thereceiver 29 of a pump 30, supported on the front end of the chassis. Thesaid pump is operated by a driving shaft 31 which is connected to themain shaft of the motor as by the chain and sprocket mechanism 32.

A controlling valve 33 may be provided to regulate the admission of thefluid to the hollow, telescopic cylinder and piston elements forexpanding or extending the latter, and a clutch operating lever 35serves to connect the shaft 31 to and disconnect it from the maindriving shaft of the motor;

said lever 35 acting on a clutch spool 36 main motor shaft and that issplined to the the hub 37 of one of is toothed to engage the sprocketwheels of the chain and sprocket mechanism 32, as most clearly clearlyshown in Fig. 2.-

When it is desired to discharge a load from the truck body, the rear endgate or wall 20 may be removed or, if said end gate be hinged asindicated in Fig. 1, its locking means are released, so that when theload is moved rearwardly by the sliding piston, said load is free to bedischarged from the rear end of the truck body. The said movable pistonor front end wall of the body is forced rearwardly by connecting thepump to the main driving shaft, as by throwing in the clutch actuatinglever 35. The motive fluid, either a liquid when hydraulically operated,or air when pneumatically operated, is by the pump forced through thepipes 28 into the telescopic cylinders and pistons so as to expand orelongate them and thereby force the piston 22 through the body and pushthe load rearwardly. The rate of movement imparted to the movable endwall or piston by the expansive cylinders and pistons may be controlledeither by the speed of the motor or by the valve 33. After the slidableend wall or piston has been forced rearwardly to discharge the entirecontents of the body, it is positively moved forwardly to its normalposition in which it closes the front end of the body. One mechanism foredecting this result is made as follows:

40 designates a shaft that isarranged transversely over the front end ofthe chassis, and as shown, in front of the pump. ft is rotativelymounted in bearings supported on suitably shaped standards 41*, ll whichrise from the side bars of the .chassis. The said shaft is providedwithone or more drums ll about which are wound a cable or cables t2, thelatter fixed at the rear end or ends thereof to the slidable piston orfront end wall of the body. Preferably, a plurality of such cables anddrums are employed, three being herein, shown, one attached to each sideof the discharging or movable piston or the central portion thereof. Thesaid-shaft a0 is operably connected to the motor to rotate the shaft 40through the medium of chain and sprocket mechanism 45 geared to the maindriving shaft and through intermeshing gears 46, 47, the formerrotatively mounted in a bearing carried by a cross bar 48 extendingbetween and supported in the standards 41*, and the latter fixed to thetransverse shaft 40. The said transverse shaft isadapted to be connectedto and disconnected from the motor shaft by the clutch lever 35, saidlever acting on the spool 36 to move it toward and from the hub 49 ofone of the sprocket wheels of the chain and sprocket mechanism 45. vThesaid shaft 40 is disconnected from the main driving shaft when the pumpis operating to force the slidable piston or end wall rearwardly todischarge the load, and when the load has been discharged, the pump isdisconnected from the motor by means of the clutch lever 35, and saidclutch lever is operated to connect the motor to the transmission shaft40 so that the motor thereby operates to return the movable piston tothe front end of the body, at which point it serves as the front wall ofthe body to retain the load. The clutch spool 36 occupies a central orneutral position when the truck is on the road.

Other means may be employed for returning the movable end or piston toits normal position at the front end of the body. For instance, as shownin Figs. 4:, 5 and 6, the driving shaft 16 of themotor is provided witha worm 50 which meshes with a worm gear 51 that is fixed to shaft 52which extends transversely across andbetween the frame and theexpansible pistons, as herein shown. Said shaft is rotatively mounted inbearings or brackets 53, 53.which are fixed walland the third near tothe chassis in any suitable manner. T e a said shaft is provided nearits ends wit drums 5t, 5 about which are trained cables 55, 55 that areconnected to the movable end wall or piston 22, adjacent to the sidesthereof, lit is convenient to arrange the worm gear 51 partiallybetweenthe two sets of expansible pistons. and with the shaft 52 just onthe motor shaft 16 so as to be normally loose thereon, and provide anysuitable form of clutch to lock the worm to said shaft, adapted to beoperated by a clutch lever 61. As shown, the clutch member 60 is splinedto the shaft to slide thereon, but to rotate therewith. Thus, when thetruck is on the road the worm and worm gear remain stationary, but theworm turns with said shaft when the clutch is engaged with the worm. TheWorm is held from endwise movement between collars 63, Mon the shaft 16.

In order to hold the extensible cylinder and piston elements 25 and 26in line when the same are extended, supporting arms 70, 71 are carriedby and extend outwardly from said piston elements and carry at theirouter ends rollers 72, 73, respectively, which engage longitudinalguidegrooves 74 at the upper edges of the body walls and other gui es atthe inner sides of said walls below their upper edges. The upper edgeguides 74 may be formed by turning the upper marginal portions of thebody wall inwardly in channel. form, as shown in Fig. 3, while the lowerinner guides may be formed by the channel bars 23, before referred to.The said supporting arms are attached in any suitable manner to theextended ends of the cvlinder and piston elements, as shown in Figs. 1and 2, and, if desired, like cylinder andipiston elements of the twosets may be connected bv transverse braces or struts 75, as shown inFigs. 2 and 3. If desired, the upper edge of the end wall or piston maybe provided with rollers 72 to engage the guide grooves 74. In order toclear the channeled guides 23 of material in advance of the rollers 73any form of suitable scraper device 78 may be carried by the end wall 22or by the arms 71 to traverse said guides during the movement 0 the endwall or piston. When the slida e end wall orpiston is returned and thecylinder and piston elements 24, 25, 26 and 27 are thereby collapsed,the motive fluid may be discharged from the piston elements and the pumpby any suitably applied valve on the pump or its re- It will, of course,be understood that the shaft 16 may be disconnected from the reardriving wheel chain and sprocket mechanism, by any suitable means, notshown, when the load is being ejected from the body and when thepiston22 is being returned to its forwardmost position, by drive the vehicleduring the unloading and restoring movements 0 the piston.

It will, of course, be' understood that a drivers seat. as well as thesteering and controlling mechanism may be installed where desired ornecessary, but these features of construction have been omitted to avoidconfusion in illustrating the essential features of the invention.

' when th so as to not there-- Other exemplifications of my inventionwill occur to those skilled in the art, and the lnvention is notlimited, therefore, except as made the subject of specific claims. Forinstance, I may employ one or a plurality of the return cables 42, 55,or one or a plu rality of sets of cylinder and piston elements ismechanism constitutes the means of thrusting the end wall or pistonbackwardly. So far as the present invention is concerned, other meansmay be employed to force said unloading piston element backwardly.

I claim as my invention 1. A self-dumping motor truck comprising, incombination with a wheeled chassis, a trough-like body above andsupported on said chassis and provided with a fixed front wall and amovable rear end gate, of a load discharging member slidable through thebody toward and from said end gate, and means to actuate said loaddischarging member comprising a series of telescopic cylinder and pistonelements, a fixed abutment on the chassis between which and said frontbody wall the outer fixed cylinder element of said series is held, theinner piston element of said series being fixed to said dischargingmember, and positively actuated means to return the load dischargemember to the front end of said'body.

2. A self dumping motor truck comprising, in combination with a wheeledchassis, a motor thereon and a power shaft operatively connected to saidmotor and to the driving wheels of said. chassis to operate the latter,of a trough-like body arranged longitudinally above and supported onsaid chassis and provided with a fixed front wall and a movable rear endgate, a load discharging member slidable through the body toward andfrom said end gate, and means to actuate said discharge membercomprising a series of telesco 1c cylinder and piston elements, a fixeda utment on the chassis between which and said front bod wall the outerfixed cylinder element 0 said series is held, the inner piston elementof said series being fixed to said load discharge member, a pumpoperatively connected to said motor to supply a motive fluid to saidseries of cylinder and piston elements, and means operatively connectedto said motor for restoring said load discharge element to the front endof the body.

3. A self dumping motor truck comprising, in combination with a wheeledchassis and a power shaft arranged longitudinally of the chassis andoperatively connected to the driving wheels of the chassis, of atrough-like body arranged longitudinally of and supported on saidchassis and provided with a fixed front wall and a movable rear endgate, a load discharge member slidable arranged longitudinally throughthe body toward and from said end gate, fluid controlled means actuatedby said. power shaft to force said discharge member toward said endgate, and separate means, also operatively connected to and actuated bysaid power shaft, to return said discharge member to the front end ofsaid body.

4. A self dumping motor truck comprising, in combination with a wheeledchassis, of a trough-like body arranged longitudinally above andsupported on said chassis and provided with a fixed front wall and amovable rear end gate, a load discharging member slidable through thetrough-like body toward and from said end gate, and means to actuatesaid discharging member comprising two sets of telescopic cylinder andpistonelements, arranged one set on each side of the longitudinal axisof said body, a fixed abutment on the chassis between which and saidfront body wall the outer fixed cylinder element of each of said sets isheld, the inner piston elements of said sets being fixed to saiddischarging member at the sides of its center, and means attached tosaid discharging member for positively returning the same to the frontend of said body.

5QA self dumping motor truck comprising, in combination with a wheeledchassis, and power shaft arranged longitudinally of the chassis andoperatively connected to the driving wheels of the chassis, ofatroughlike body arranged longitudinally of and supported on saidchassis and provided with a fixed front wall and a movable rear ,endgate, a series of telescopic cylinder and pistonelements arranged infront of said body with the outermost of said elements fixed and bearingagainst said front end wall, and with the innermost piston elementsconnected to said slidable discharge member,

connected to and driven by said power shaft to force a fluid into saidcylinder and piston elements, and discharging-inember-returning-meansalso connected to and actuated by said-power shaft.

6. In a motor truck, the combination with a trough-like body to carry aload and provided with a load discharging member movable rearwardlythrough the body, and means for so forcing said member rearwardlycomprising telescopic cylinder and piston elements, withdmeans fordelivering a motive fluid under pressure thereto to extend them, certainof the cylinder and piston elements having laterally extending uidearms, and longitudinal guides on the side walls of the body to cooperatewith said arms to maintain the cylinder and piston elements inalinement.

7. In a motor truck, the combination with a trough-like body to carry aload and provided with a load discharging member movable rearwardlythrough the body, and means for so forcing said member rearwardlycomprising telescopic cylinder and piston elements,

a pump operatively with means for delivering a motive fluid underpressure thereto to extend them, certain of the cylinder and pistonelements having laterally extending guide arms, and said body beingprovided at the upper margins of its side walls with tracks and betweensaid tracks and the bottom of said body with other parallel tracks tocooperate with said guide arms.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my invention ll aflix mysignature in the presence of tWo witnesses, this 15th day of August, A.l). 1913. I

GEORGE W. JACKSON.

Witnesses:

G. E. Downs, W L. HALL.

